Laura Izibor live at Crawdaddy
Early on, the gorgeous 'From My Heart To Yours' sets pulses racing.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 24 Oct 2008
There may have been a great buzz all over Dublin last night, with The Flaws and Vampire Weekend in town for gigs – but there can't have been anywhere to quite match the palpable sense of excitement at Crawdaddy.
Laura Izibor has been making waves for some time. So high did her stock fly in her mere teens that it must have seemed at times, over the past two or three years, that success was somehow destined to elude her. Her initial record deal with Jive produced nothing, a victim of the musical chairs in the record business that can wreck the careers of artists accidentally caught in the slipstream. But, on occasion, adversity can turn out to be a good thing. In Laura's case, there's a gut feeling that, with her now debut album in the can, and the power brokers in Atlantic Records in both the US and the UK getting ready for the big push when it hits the streets in the new year, like Usain Bolt before the Olympics, she's now fitter and sharper than ever before – thoroughly primed and ready to explode onto the world stage.
This was an important gig for Laura. People from Warner Music and Atlantic in London had come to Dublin to see her in action in her home-town. With them came a near twenty-strong crew of UK journalists, media players and influencers. How would she fare under the intense spotlight of media and music biz scrutiny?
It was important too, in that she had her new band with her: this is the sound Laura will be taking on the road over the coming months, the sound with which she will attempt to woo fans across the States and Europe. Anyone who has seen Laura in action solo in recent times will be aware of just how commanding a presence she has become, how apparently effortlessly she meshes fine piano playing with thrilling virtuoso vocal flourishes; how she digs deep into the soul while also entertaining with chutzpah and charisma. But even the hottest combo, given the wrong musical direction, can derail a core of greatness. In Laura's case, the crucial imperative is to ensure that the music stays in service to the songs, that the essence of sweet soul music remains at the heart of what she does and that the emotions are allowed to bleed through.
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